Movable tray storage apparatus

ABSTRACT

A movable tray storage apparatus has a base with walls forming a continuous, generally oval pathway for an unconnected train of trays, each having supporting and guiding rollers for rollingly contacting the base, walls and adjacent carriers when the train of trays is propelled by pushing one tray in the train.

United States Patent [72] Inventors Robert D. Lowry 123 Johnson Road; John W. Harrison, 47 Yale St., Winchester, Mass. 01890 {21] Appl. No. 817,461

[22] Filed Apr. 18, 1969 [45] Patented Apr. 27, 1971 {54] MOVABLE TRAY STORAGE APPARATUS 5 Claims, 7 Drawing Figs. [52] U.S.Cl 211/162, 198/181,21l/122,21l/126,280/79.3 [51] Int.C1 A47f3/14, A47f 5/00, B65g 15/24 [50] Field ofSearch 211/162,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,193,076 3/1940 Preble 198/181 2,717,699 9/1955 Spindler et a] 211/122X 2,745,542 5/1956 Boots 198/181X 2,935,331 5/ 1960 Ledgerwood 280/793 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,273,415 7/1968 Germany 198/181 Primary Examiner-Ramon S. Britts Attorney-Rowland V. Patrick ABSTRACT: 035763424 A movable tray storage apparatus has a base with walls fonning a continuous, generally oval pathway for an unconnected train of trays, each having supporting and guiding rollers for rollingly contacting the base, walls and adjacent carriers when the train of trays is propelled by pushing one tray in the train.

SHEET 2 OF 5 Y PATENTED mm [97! PATENTED APR27 l97l 3.576258 SHEET 3 OF 5 [FIG. 3

MOVABLE TRAY STORAGE APPARATUS This invention relates to storage cabinets.

Objects of the invention are to provide for a maximum use of rectangular-shaped storage areas, particularly those having limited accessibility such as a lower corner cupboard in a kitchen.

The invention features a storage apparatus having walls defining an endless pathway and a train of unconnected trays or carriers adapted to travel around the pathway. The carriers include supporting rollers for rollingly supporting the carriers on the pathway surface and contact rollers for rollingly contacting adjacent carriers and the walls. In the preferred embodiment the pathway is oval; and the train of carriers is propelled by pushing one of the carriers from a point of easy access to the pathway to set the whole train in motion,

adequate provision being made as hereinafter described to prevent the carriers from jamming or being derailed, so to speak.

Objects, features, and advantages of the construction will appear from the following description of a preferred embodiment of the invention, taken together with the attached drawings thereof, in which:

FIG. 1 is a top view of a first embodiment of the invention located in a rectangular storage area in a kitchen cupboard;

FIG. 2 is a bottom view of one of the trays thereof;

FIG. 3 is a top view of the base of a second embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view of a portion of the base of the second embodiment, particularly showing a raised track thereon;

FIG. 5 is a bottom view of one of the trays of the second embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a side view of the tray of FIG. 5; and

FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of a portion of the tray of FIG. 6.

The drawings (FIGS. 1 and 2) of the first embodiment show a long rectangular shelf 10 enclosed within a lower comer kitchen cupboard 12 with a limited access door 14, and four trays 16 on a base 18 resting on the shelf. (In FIG. 1, another position of four trays 16 is shown dotted.)

Base 18 consists of three interlocking sections: two semicircular end sections 22 and 24 and a rectangular middle section 26. The base formed by the interlocking sections has a bottom with a flat surface 32, a low outer wall at the boundary of the base, and an inner central wall 42. Surface 32 of base bottom 30, bounded by base walls 40 and 42, defines an endless tray pathway having semicircular end portions 32a and 32c and rectangular portions 32b and 32d has a width (from outer wall 40 to inner wall 42) which is slightly less than the radius of curvature of pathway end portions 320 and 320, and has a length greater than the radius of curvature. Rollers 50 are mounted on vertical axes in assemblies at each end of base inner wall 42 and protrude into pathway end portions 32a and 32c.

Each tray 16 has a platform 70 bounded by six walls '71, 72 73, 74, 75 and 76, which above platform 70 form wall portions 71a to 76a and below platform 70 form tray apron portions 71b to 76b. Tray wall portions 71a to 76a form, together with tray platform 70, a receptacle for storing articles.

Tray outer wall 71 is curved with a radius of curvature, R, slightly less than that of semicircular portions 32a and 32c of the tray pathway. Parallel, straight tray side walls 72 and 76 extend back toward base inner wall 42 from tray outer wall 71. Two straight tray diagonal walls 73 and 75 extend from tray sidewalls 72 and'76, respectively, to a straight tray inner wall 74.

Tray outer wall portion 71a is low for accessibility and sidewall portions 720 and 76a and diagonal wall portions 73a and 75a rise to meet a higher tray inner wall portion 740.

Seven contact rollers 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86 and 87 are mounted on vertical axes in assemblies secured to the bottom of each tray platform 70. Six contact rollers 81 to 86 are located at corners of the tray and one contact roller 87 is located at the center of outer wall 71 Tray apron portions 71b to 76b of the tray walls have openings 90 through which portions of rollers 81 to 87 protrude.

Also secured to the bottom of each tray platform are three roller assemblies 92 having tray support rollers 94 which extend beneath the level of tray apron portions 71b and 76b. Rollers 94 are spaced apart on a tray centerline running from the center of tray outer wall 71 to the center of tray inner wall 74, and are fixed to rotate in a direction parallel to tray inner wall 74. Eight swivel casters 96 are also secured to the bottom of each tray platform 70 at various locations near the periphery of the tray.

Each tray 16'is slightly less long and slightly less wide than one of the pathway rectangular portions 32b and 32d. Thus dimensioned, a tray 16 fills almost all of one of the rectangular portions 32b and 32d of the pathway when located there, or a substantial portion of one of the semicircular end portions 32a and 320 of the pathway, if located there.

Diagonal tray walls 73 and have junctions with tray sidewalls 72 and 76, respectively, which are spaced from base inner wall 42 a distance of from 15 to 25 percent of the tray width. Moreover, diagonal wall 75 is oriented so that if a line is drawn from the center of axis of roller to the center of curvature, c, of the tray outer wall 71 and the angle, a, between that line and another line drawn from the center of curvature parallel to tray inner wall 74 is determined, the angle between a line drawn between the centers of axes of rollers 85 and 84 and a line drawn from the axis of roller 85 parallel to tray sidewall 76 will be equal to that angle a. Diagonal wall 73 is similarly oriented.

While a base for four trays is shown here in illustration of the invention, a base can be easily designed for holding five, six or more trays. Only the rectangular middle section of the base need be changed, in conformity with the formula: lengths of base section (length of tray) X (number of trays -2)/2 For maximum utilization of the invention the length of the tray should be equal to or greater than the tray width. The maximum feasible ratio of tray length to tray width appears to be 1 V2. A preferred range of ratios is I 1/10 to 1 Va. The ratio of the embodiment described is l A.

To use the assembly, base 18 is assembled on shelf 10 by joining sections 22, 24, and 26 and trays 16 are placed in the pathway formed by base bottom surface 32 and outer and inner base walls 48 and 42. Support rollers 94 and swivel casters 96 support the trays on surface 32 and allow the trays to move around the pathway. (The trays are shown in FIG. 1 in two positions: in one position they are drawn solid; in the other they are drawn dotted.) Access to articles stored in a tray remote from doors 14 may be had by pushing successive accessible trays to create a trainlike movement of the trays until the desired tray comes near the accessible part of shelf 10. Rollers 50, at the ends of base inner wall 42, and tray contact rollers 81 to 87 facilitate movement of the trays by creating a rolling contact between a tray and the boundary walls 40 and 42 of the base as well as between a tray and adjacent trays. Boundary wall 48, formed low so that it will not limit accessibility to the trays, is high enough for contact rollers 86, 87 and 81 to roll against it. The spacing of tray contact rollers 82 and 85 away from base inner wall 42 and the orientation of diagonal walls 73 and 75 ensures that rolling and pushing contact between adjacent trays will occur not closer than 15 percent of the tray width from the base inner wall, facilitating movement of the trays.

The drawings (FIGS. 3 to 7) of the second embodiment of the invention similarly show a base 118 and trays 1 16.

Base 118 (FIG. 3) of the second embodiment has three sections 122, 124, and 126 forming a bottom 130 and outer and inner boundary walls and 142. The outer and inner base boundary walls have the same characteristics as in the first embodiment.

The trays 116 (FIG. 5) of the second embodiment have walls 171, 172, 173, 174, 175, 176 of the same dimensions and configurations as those of trays 16 of the first embodiment.

Tray 116 has, however, nine contact rollers 181, 182, 183, 1114, 185, 186, 187, 188 and 189 rather than the seven rollers 81 to 87 of the tray of the first embodiment. The two additional rollers 188 and 189 are located at spaced locations on tray inner wall 174.

Moreover, each tray 116 has four support roller assemblies 192 having support rollers 194 which, unlike those of the tray of the first embodiment, are located so that two assemblies 192a and l92c are adjacent tray sidewall 172, two assemblies 192b and 192d are adjacent tray sidewall 176, and they are all spaced apart in a direction parallel to the tray sidewalls. Rollers 194 are fixed to rotate in a direction parallel to tray inner wall 174. Each tray also has four other support roller assemblies 196 and rollers 198 similar to assemblies 192 and rollers 194, respectively, but located so that two assemblies 196a and 196b are adjacent tray outer wall 171 and two assemblies 196s and 196d are adjacent tray inner wall 174. Assemblies 196 are in addition spaced apart from assemblies 192 in a direction parallel to the tray sidewalls. Rollers 198 of assemblies 196 are fixed to rotate in a direction perpendicular to a line drawn from rollers 198 to the center of curvature, c, of tray outer wall 171. Roller assemblies 196 are mounted on tray platform 170 so that rollers 198 extend one-sixteenth inch further away from platform 170 than do rollers 194 of assemblies 192 (FIGS. 6 and 7).

Base 118 includes, rising from flat surface 132, eight tracks 134a, b, c, d, e, f, g, and h, whose upper flat surfaces are three thirty-seconds inch above surface 132 (FIGS. 3 and 4). Tracks 134 taper at each end to meet surface 132. The tracks are located and proportioned so that when a tray is substantially in one of the rectangular portions l32b and 132d of the pathway, its rollers 194 are over appropriate tracks.

The general operation of the second embodiment is similar to that of the first. However, in the first embodiment, trays 16 were supported by rollers 94 and swivel casters 96 both contacting base surface 32 continuously for any position of the trays. ln this second embodiment, while a tray is moving over one of the rectangular portions 13% and 132a of the pathway, it is supported by rollers 194 on tracks 134, rollers 198 being raised slightly from flat surface 132 between the tracks. In the semicircular end portions 132a and 132e, the absence of tracks 134 causes rollers 198 to support trays 116 over those portions while rollers 194 are raised from surface 132.

In still another alternative embodiment, not shown in the drawings, the base pathway has tracks for supporting the trays traveling over the semicircular end portions of the pathway rather than over the rectangular portions. Corresponding changes in the positions and relative heights of the support rollers are made.

Other embodiments will occur to those skilled in the art and are within the following claims.

- We claim:

1. A storage apparatus comprising:

a base;

vertical walls defining an endless pathway;

including an outer wall having semicircular end portions and straight parallel intermediate portions;

a train of unconnected carriers adapted to travel around said pathway;

each carrier having vertical walls including two sidewalls perpendicular to said pathway which are substantially straight and parallel to each other, an inside carrier wall parallel to said pathway which is substantially straight, and an outside carrier wall having a curvature corresponding to that of said semicircular end portion of said pathway;

said vertical walls of each said carrier further including two diagonal walls, each said diagonal wall joining adjacent ends of a carrier sidewall and a carrier inside wall, with the carrier diagonal wall junction with a carrier sidewall being spaced from said pathway inner wall a distance of at least 15 percent of the width of said carrier; I support rollers rollingly supporting said carriers on the surface of said pathway;

contact rollers on said carriers for rollingly contacting adjacent carriers and said pathway walls; and

one of said contact rollers being located at each end of each said carrier diagonal wall and the angle formed between a line extending between said contact rollers at either end of a said carrier diagonal wall and a line parallel to said carrier sidewall being equal to the angle formed between a line extending from the center of curvature of said carrier outside wall to the contact roller at the junction of said carrier diagonal wall and said carrier sidewall and a line parallel to said carrier inside wall.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 in which said carrier support rollers include wheels fixed to roll in a direction parallel to said pathway and also include swivel casters.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 in which the length of each of said carriers is greater than its width.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 in which said base has a pathway surface including a fiat surface and tracks raised above said flat surface over a portion of said pathway, a first number of said carrier support rollers being vertically spaced above a second number of said carrier support rollers a distance less than the height of said raised tracks said first number of carrier support rollers being adapted to rollingly support said carriers on said tracks over said portion of said pathway,

said second number of carrier support rollers being adapted to rollingly support said carriers on said flat surface.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 in which said first number of carrier support rollers are fixed to rotate in a direction parallel to said carrier inside wall and said second number of carrier support rollers are each fixed to rotate in a direction perpendicular to a line from the roller to the center of curvature of said carrier outside wall, said raised tracks being located so that a carrier is supported by said first number of said carrier support rollers on said tracks when it is substantially over a portion of the pathway adjacent said outer wall straight portions. 

1. A storage apparatus comprising: a base; vertical walls defining an endless pathway; including an outer wall having semicircular end portions and straight parallel intermediate portions; a train of unconnected carriers adapted to travel around said pathway; each carrier having vertical walls including two sidewalls perpendicular to said pathway which are substantially straight and parallel to each other, an inside carrier wall parallel to said pathway which is substantially straight, and an outside carrier wall having a curvature corresponding to that of said semicircular end portion of said pathway; said vertical walls of each said carrier further including two diagonal walls, each said diagonal wall joining adjacent ends of a carrier sidewall and a carrier inside wall, with the carrier diagonal wall junction with a carrier sidewall being spaced from said pathway inner wall a distance of at least 15 percent of the width of said carrier; support rollers rollingly supporting said carriers on the surface of said pathway; contact rollers on said carriers for rollingly contacting adjacent carriers and said pathway walls; and one of said contact rollers being located at each end of each said carrier diagonal wall and the angle formed between a line extending between said contact rollers at either end of a said carrier diagonal wall and a line parallel to said carrier sidewall being equal to the angle formed between a line extending from the center of curvature of said carrier outside wall to the contact roller at the junction of said carrier diagonal wall and said carrier sidewall and a line parallel to said carrier inside wall.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1 in which said carrier support rollers include wheels fixed to roll in a direction parallel to said pathway and also include swivel casters.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1 in which the length of each of said carriers is greater than its width.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1 in which said base has a pathway surface including a flat surface and tracks raised above said flat surface over a portion of said pathway, a first number of said carrier support rollers being vertically spaced above a second number of said carrier support rollers a distance less than the height of said raised tracks said first number of carrier support rollers being adapted to rollingly support said carriers on said tracks over said portion of said pathway, said second number of carrier support rollers being adapted to rollingly support said carriers on said flat surface.
 5. The apparatus of claim 4 in which said first number of carrier support rollers are fixed to rotate in a direction parallel to said carrier inside wall and said second number of carrier support rollers are each fixed to rotate in a direction perpendicular to a line from the roller to the center of curvature of said carrier outside wall, said raised tracks being located so that a carrier is supported by said first number of said carrier support rollers on said tracks when it is substantially over a portion of the pathway adjacent said outer wall straight portions. 